The child bride had a technicolour yawn the afternoon of the storm. First time I’ve seen (heard actually) her do that since our first date. Then it was bacardi and coke. This time it was white wine (probably) and a bucking bronco ship. I don’t think white wine will suffer the same fate as bacardi which has not passed her lips since that fateful night. I suspect there may have been some morning sickness spews a few decades ago also but no particular incident stands out like the very first and the very latest (notice how i didn’t say “last” – you never know). And I may have been at work.
Yesterday was our first full day of sightseeing in Japan if you don’t count getting from Haneda Airport to the good ship Azamara Journey three days ago. Trying to find something quirky about Japan is difficult. Sure, the culture’s quite different but we don’t want to be disrespectful. It’s also very clean and the people are friendly and polite (except the prick who was grinding his elbow into my back on a jam-packed train many years ago). The worst I could say about Aomori is that it appeared to be closed….. on a Thursday. It could have been that everyone was inside with all of the doors closed because it was ear-snappingly cold and occasionally snowed. The only snow angel and snow ball frolicking was being done by those from the tropics and sub tropics until the realisation that snow is cold and wet set in, as if we didn’t already know.
Despite the Walking Dead atmosphere of the town, the reception at the Port was brilliant. There were young ladies in traditional dress singing and dancing, blokes dressed up as … something and running after buses waving giant hands, a TV crew and someone in a giant apple suit. This is the apple capital of Japan so that stands to reason. We are their first cruise ship of the season so I guess they were pretty pleased to see us, if only for the gaijin dollars we injected into the local economy. Two coffees from us, worth about $18. Don’t spend it all at once.
Last night was French night at the fourth poshest restaurant on the ship – a perfectly reasonable cultural experience on an American ship in Japan. But we joined in and had the beef bourguignon and the coq au vin but drew the line at escargot and frog’s legs. Did all that when I was being paid to bow to others’ cultural and gastronomic proclivities. On my own dime I’ll eat what I want not what someone else puts in front for me. The most unusual thing that can be said about that was regarding a couple who turned up dressed for dinner. Him in his suit and her in a long frock. This isn’t the Queen Elizabeth but bloody good for them nonetheless. If you have any standards, adhere to them because there are increasing numbers of people out there who have none whatsoever.